I updated my previous post.

Look For Me! April Fool's!

Oh man, this one was good! Admit it, MANY of you were fooled! I love it!! It's the one time a year that I can legally lie!! Love ya guys!

I promise I will not monopolize my personal/family blog with my weight loss efforts. BUTTT, I just HAVE to share with you all this incredibly exciting thing that is happening!!!

Some of you know about the enormous stress that we've been under with our house selling/buying stuff right now (I'll fill everybody in later)... well, in the middle of all this stress, yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from one of Oprah's assistants talking to me about this weight loss competition and the success that I've had! OPRAH! They are wanting to do a show on mini 'Biggest Loser' contests and how successful the contestants have been!! Can you believe it?! I'm on cloud nine!

They want me to come to Chicago in a couple of weeks for the show!! HOLLA! I'm so totally there! Who wants to come with me?! They said something about letting me bring a support person or two!!

DANG! With the stress of all this house stuff I DESERVE this awesome opportunity!!

Feel Like 15 All Over Again

This diet has given me tons of energy! I'm feeling great! Plus, I had to take the written driving test this week!

Last time I even thought about questions for that test I was 15. Oh the the things we'll do to feel young again! Actually, I let my license lapse more than 30 days. Silly me. I should be OCD and looking at my driver's license everyday to make sure it hasn't expired! I don't remember having a problem with this until I moved south! Last time I let it lapse I found out when I got pulled over really late at night on my way home from visiting Shelley in Tulsa! I swear that I've received reminders for the expiration when I've lived in other states! Didn't I? I'm just curious... how do you all find out that your license is expiring?! Regardless, I had to take the test.

I really didn't think too much of it. It was just a pain finding time during the day to go do it. Last week Geoff was home sick for a couple of days so I decided it was time. As I pulled into the State Trooper's Headquarters (driving myself without a valid driver's license and expired license plate) I started thinking that maybe I should have looked over some sample questions or something. It has been 20 years after all! (holy crap... 20 years!) Then I started to get nervous that I might not actually pass it! Oh the disgrace if I didn't pass this! Nervousness really set in as I got out of the car and got in line behind people who had review booklets in their hands! WHY didn't I think to ask them about review material when I called?! I'm an idiot.

So, I sat down to do the test. 25 questions. A friend told me that if I get 6 wrong it automatically turns off the test and fails me. I'm sweating. The first couple of questions weren't too hard. I actually remember them from when I was 15 (believe it or not). Questions like: What does this sign mean?

I started thinking: "Ok, this is going to be easy!"

Then they threw one of these in there: A passenger vehicle is going 55 mph. When stopping, how far before it comes to a complete stop? A. 110-120 feet B. 130-140 feet C. 170-180 feet

I DON'T KNOW!!!!!

Or how about this one: How many hours does it take to get alcohol out of a person's system? A. 3 drinks per hour B. 2 drinks per hour C. 1 drink per hour

YOU'RE KIDDING ME!!! Had no clue.

I must have guessed right enough because I made it through all 25 questions and the computer didn't blow up or tell me I failed! Thank goodness. I left the building with a permit. I could only drive with a licensed adult 21 or older until I could make it to a different building to actually have the license printed. I hope they didn't watch me leave.

Slim Chance Updates

If I haven't told you, you haven't noticed, or you haven't read it on my Facebook.... I have a new blog that that I will be updating with progress reports on the competition that I'm in to lose weight. A link to it is on the sidebar on the right... feel free to follow along and give me any positive encouragement that you deem fit!

Time to Potty-Train?

Is it time to potty-train my 2 year old when she crawls over to her daddy in bed, sits on his head, and produces a toot? She did it on purpose... not an accident. She busted out laughing as well as her parents. Add that to my list of things to do!

Slim Chance

Well, some of you might have a hard time believing that I've won something again. I don't blame you after my little April Fool's Joke last year! I can hardly believe it myself! But I did! I'm sure that my luck will change someday!

So, here's the low down:

When we first moved here to New City I found a really great website for moms in the area and it had tons of information on things to do and places to go. I get an email update from it probably once a week. A couple of weeks ago I skimmed over the email and it described a weight loss competition that it wanted to start with one of the moms from the website and were asking for women to submit entries to be in this little competition. There would be two moms chosen to receive 3 months free membership to a local gym and 3 months free with Metabolic Research Center (weight loss program similar to LA Weight Loss or Weight Watchers). This is huge in and of itself! A local radio personality got in on the action too ~ even though he's a guy. So... I had this page open on my computer for about a week and a half. I didn't even turn off my computer! This is something that could change my life if I was ready for it! But I was hesitant. I even drafted a couple of emails with my entry but deleted it. I was worried about how public it would make my life. My issues. But, on the other hand, I knew that I needed to do something. On the last day before the deadline I wrote out my little 'essay' and submitted it. You guessed it! They picked me!!! There were two women chosen out of about 30 entries and I was one of them!!! So what does this mean, you are asking? It's kind of like Biggest Loser but on a much smaller scale. We are all four battling to be the one person with the most weight loss at the end of the 3 months as well as a 'grand prize' (that hasn't really been described yet). The lady from the website and the radio personality do not qualify for the prize at the end so it's just between me and the other mom chosen. During the 3 months we are going to working out together, supporting each other, and blogging about it on their site (right up my alley)! I'm sooo happy for this opportunity! I need this. I need my health back. I need my self-esteem back. This is just the motivation that I needed!

Woohoo!!! Wish me luck!

PS If any of you want to track it on the website email me and I will send you the link. Because my blog is open to the public, I'm not comfortable publicizing where I live and the link has my hometown in the address. I will be posting some if not all of my posts on here as well but not any of the other contestants! (if you're so inclined to read theirs)

Fine. Is This Better?

Girl Scout Cookies Are In

I Realize...

... that I've been a slacker blogger about the important things in life. For example, I have yet to explain under what unfortunate circumstances this happened:

Because I just know that you are all just DYING to know about it!

Or what went terribly wrong here:

Or what the heck this was doing on my couch:

And though I'm sure that you can figure out what this next one is about... it's only part of the story!

So, in the meantime, until I can get my act together you'll get more pictures like this:

Break It Down

As I looked closer to the picture in my previous post, I noticed a couple of things that I thought were interesting. Now, you may not find these interesting. But I did. And this is my blog and I can do what I want. So there.

Because it's a little hard to read I thought that I would blow them up for you:

Anyone who uses Google Chat will know what that is. If you don't you should. And now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.... I ALWAYS have mine set to invisible. Basically, this means that I can see anyone who gets on to chat but they can't tell that I'm really there! Clever, huh? I realize that I will have to probably change this way of living now that I've told you but that's okay.

I realize that I have a problem with letting go. Over 2300 emails in my inbox. At least I've read them. But for one reason or another I've kept them. Fortunately, Gmail just made it possible to have folders. So, maybe I can get a little more organized and start filing away all those critical emails that I'm sure I will need later!

With the click of a button I can invite anyone I'm emailing to start chatting. The email above was from Google Calendar. I should just try it and see.... k. I did it. Now I'm just waiting to hear back!

Feel free to note any other quirky things about this screen shot!

I Love Days Like This

And Now The Real Fun Begins!

THIS is what I came home to after a morning out with the kids: At first glance I thought maybe AJ just tore the screen off of it's track. But upon closer inspection I realized that he actually ripped the screen to shreds. Nice. I guess he was paying me back for leaving him out on the patio in the rain. But really, how could you not love this face? Crap! I've become one of THOSE people! You know. The kind that talk about their dogs all the time!!! It used to drive me batty... and now I'm one of 'em! :) But he's so DANG cute!!

Ainsley's Baptism

What a beautiful little girl!

We held Ainsley's baptism on Saturday. She has been looking forward to this day for an extra long time because she actually turned 8 in November. We probably could have done it then but we really wanted to have more preparation to make sure it was a special occasion. Not to do it just to be doing it! It also gave me some time to find her a dress. My mom made Aspen's dress when she was baptized and I really wanted to have her make Ainsley's too but my poor mom was sick with just about anything you can imagine for about 2 months over the holidays. There was no way she was going to be able to make it. So we checked around at the local consignment shops and this beauty turned up!

As we were getting her dressed and ready she looked up at me and said, "Mom, I look so beautiful!" It was worth every penny to hear her say that. I made her a necklace and a bracelet and purchased a really pretty pair of earrings. She was especially excited about the 'high heels' that we picked out.

When we got to the church she had to change into a jumper for the actual baptism. She looked up at me, once again, and said, "Mom, I don't look beautiful anymore." (Referring to the silly jumpsuit.) Like a good mom, I told her that her beauty didn't come from that dress that she was just as beautiful without it.

The baptism went great. Mostly just family members attended and a handful of people from the ward. A peaceful, happy feeling was felt by all. Thank you to all of you who came and participated in this great occasion with us!

A.J. Doesn't Stand For Anything

The story behind our new member of the family.

We adopted him from The Humane Society. Our original intentions were to go there a few times and get to know some of the dogs until we move into our new house. That way we would be really familiar with the one we brought home. Well, it SOOO did not work that way.

We went one Saturday and spent about an hour and a half playing with a dog named Preston. He was sweet, gentle with the kiddos, and super cute. The kids loved him. Then we left. For the next 6 days they begged to go back and visit him. He had just been up for adoption for a few days. The director of the HS reassured me that he wouldn't last long. He was very adoptable (and adorable)... just what people were looking for in a dog. Geoff and I understood but knew that we couldn't have the dog in our townhouse... there just wasn't room for him... it would be a lot of work... we didn't want and inside dog... you name the excuse we had it. We just told the kids that there would be another dog. Just like buying a house... no need to fall in love with one - there will always be another one. Right?

Well, the next Saturday we gave in to the kids sweet begging (it really wasn't the annoying kind of begging) and went back to see if Preston was still there. He was! We were actually very surprised. We stayed almost two hours again playing with him and other animals. We overheard lots of folks saying that they were interested in him and Geoff and I started to get worried. We were sure at this point that he would not be there when we wanted him. So, we talked about it while the kids pestered the other animals and decided... what the heck!! We filled out the application, got the low down on him, and paid our $80 bucks... Preston got to come home with us. The kids were ecstatic! I was trepidatious. And Geoff was trying to hide his excitement behind his uncertainty that I was okay with the decision. No turning back now!

As it turns out he is a fantastic dog! We really got lucky. He's a German Shepherd/Catahoula mix and around 9 months old. He's so smart! The HS didn't have any background on him because he was picked up by Animal Control but Geoff and I are thinking that he had to have been trained by someone. He stops immediately when we say 'no'. He sits (most of the time) when we tell him to sit. He ALWAYS comes when commanded to do so. And we've only had a couple of instances of him wetting the floor and each time it was from sheer excitement on his part... not on purpose.

He DID NOT like being put in the laundry room to sleep the first night so we laid down a rug for him at the foot of our bed... not a single peep from him till morning and NO accidents! It's almost too good to be true!

Oh. You're curious about the name change? Well, I have a nephew named Preston and really didn't want to go through the whole "2 people with the same name" thing AGAIN (my husband and brother-in-law have the same name) so I encouraged the kids to help me come up with a different name. The HS just slapped that name on him when they brought him in so it didn't really bother me to change it. The hard part would be correcting ourselves for a while. We batted around a few names while we were outside playing with him. But, I really felt like if he was really going to fit in he had to have an A name! A.J. came out of my mouth and the kids loved it! Geoff, was helping someone with there car and wasn't a part of the name change. I think he was a little miffed about it. He asked, "What does A.J. stand for?" I said, "Nothing. We just like it."

Bottom line, were SOO happy to have him!

FYI, I have been the only one in this family holding back on getting a dog. My job is heavy laden as it is and I wasn't looking for more work. But, I realized that we weren't probably going to have anymore kids and Andyn is 2 1/2 so I felt like I could handle it. He has made it a dream! Welcome, Buddy!

New Bundle of Joy! {an update}

Oh dear. Silly me. Did I forget to give you additional information?

He's 4 legged not 2 legged but he might as well be! It's almost like having another kid!

New Bundle of Joy!

Many of you may not have been aware of our situation but...

WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER OF THE FAMILY!!

His name is A.J. and he's simply adorable. We're all glad that he's finally here.

My Apologies

Yesterday I received an email from my sweet friend Richard asking me to turn off the auto play on a song I posted in December. I had NO idea this was happening! When I posted the videos of Star Wars and Minesweeper my friend Dottie mentioned that some music was interfering but I just thought that it was something with her computer! When I go to my blog it does not automatically start! So, here is an official apology to all my fans! I'm sorry. I had no idea!! AND, I've fixed it!!

Today Is My Birthday!

Maybe it's shallow of me to announce this but, honestly, this is for posterity's sake too! I want my kids to read this later and know (or remember) things like this!!

So far, this birthday has been pretty different than last year's birthday. This year we are iced in. There was a nasty ice storm that came through Monday night and both the kids and Geoff were home from school/work. So, with no where to go I've been reading Chronicles of Narnia, basking in the tons of birthday wishes on Facebook, and doing laundry. Oh, and I showered! We do have plans to go to my dad's for pizza and cake this evening, though.

I thought I would let you in on a few things that I like. I realize that by the time many of you read this it will be too late to get them for me for my birthday... that's okay... there's always next year. And, when you're old (35 this year, thank you) your tastes don't really change from year to year!

There's this gum:

I LOOVVVEE this gum! Ever since my mousecapades with Amber! I saw this gum when checking out at the Walmarts, laughed out loud, received funny looks, and bought it. You see, in that little film we made, Amber said that the mice like bubblemint gum... I thought she was hilarious at the time because there wasn't such a thing... uh... I WAS WRONG! Anyway, you can buy a huge pack of these at Sam's for 6 or 7 bucks! hint hint. I was also very disappointed to see that it is NOT "a low calorie food"!

Next on my list is this:

I LOOOVEEE this chocolate. Did I say that I love it?! I love it! So creamy. So delicious. (I know it looks a little like a poop log but, that's beside the point!)

Next up:

This is a Casio Exilim z750 and I LOOOVVVEE it! Unfortunately, I've lost it! I cannot find it anywhere! So, if any of you are feeling exceptionally generous feel free to get me one of these!

And last (for now) but not least...

I currently crave all food mexican! Yumm!!

She's Got Great Hair

This has to be the best hair e-vah!